We now have more information on the security concerns that prompted Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell and his family to sell their home in Bloomfield Township (a suburb of Detroit).
According to police reports obtained by the Detroit Free Press, law enforcement had to intervene in four separate incidents in late 2023 and early 2024 that involved unknown and unwanted people showing up outside their home.
One incident took place after the Lions lost to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17 of the 2023 season. A frustrated fan sent contractors to the Campbell’s home following the one-point loss.
The other incidents took place following the Lions loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game several weeks later. Immediately following the loss, fans started showing up outside of the coach’s home. Campbell and his wife were in California for the game and only their daughter and her boyfriend were home at the time.
While no one entered the property, enough people were there that the boyfriend went to his car and flashed his lights to try to get people to leave. Eventually the Campbells told their daughter to leave the house with her boyfriend.
So how did Campbell’s address get out in the first place? NFL security was on the case. According to the Free Press, they traced it back to a classmate of Campbell’s daughter, who posted the address on Snapchat after being frustrated with the coach’s on-field decisions. In addition to the address, the teenager wrote “Dumb f*** trying to go for it” in the post.
Police determined that the teenager did not commit a crime, but Campbell’s wife, Holly, was reportedly worried that angry fans would take advantage of away games (when her husband isn’t in town) to terrorize their family.
This whole saga appears to be over, though. According to the Free Press, Campbell and his family are already happily living in their new home in Oakland County, and their old home is already under contract.
And fortunately, none of this has changed Campbell’s feelings toward Lions fans. He still adores them.
“I love our fans,” Campbell said Friday. “The fans are unbelievable. This city — there’s nowhere that I would want to be or any other team that I would want to coach for. It’s rare to have an environment like we have and to be able to coach here, play here. And I tell our guys that all the time, ‘This is a rare spot, and you better enjoy it because not every place has it like we have it.'”
